


Hey You Suck

by h0ldthiscat



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, allusions to MSR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 09:51:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5329742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h0ldthiscat/pseuds/h0ldthiscat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s been almost a year. Maybe it’s time to get back out there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hey You Suck

The small grocery store is mercifully empty at 2pm on a Saturday, allowing her to move quickly and gather the things she needs before hurrying back to the hospital. She glances down at her shopping list, scrawled on a sheet from her resident’s prescription pad: hummus, pita chips, those little swirly sticks with cookie in the middle. They’d drawn straws and she’d been tasked with grabbing snacks for that afternoon’s viewing of the Maryland/Duke game at someone’s townhouse.

“We never do anything _fun_ ,” she’d heard one of the interns complaining, and while she’d bitten her tongue to remark that they worked at a _hospital_ and that they were saving _lives_ , she’d acquiesced when someone suggested that they all watch the game together at someone’s place that weekend.

She strolls the chips and crackers aisle, wondering when they’d started making so many types of tortilla chips. How in her own little world had she been at the FBI that she hadn’t made time to notice things like that? She’d been focused on other things then, she supposes. 

She glances down the aisle helplessly, about to just pick up the first bag of chips she sees, when she spots a tall man in a t-shirt that looks familiar. It’s bright red, with the word “Hey!” in huge white letters above the University of Maryland logo. She already knows what the back says before he turns around to look at a bag of kettle chips, but when he does she sees the words “You Suck!” emblazoned on the back, as she expected. She hadn’t had time to attend many sporting events in college, but the few football and basketball games she remembers were enjoyable, surrounded by thousands of students avoiding their homework and chanting “Hey, You Suck!” as the opposing team tried to shoot a free throw or kick a field goal. 

The man is tall, attractive in a way she doesn’t usually go for, but something about it works for him. She hears her sister-in-law in the back of her mind, “Dana, you’re an amazing woman! Maybe if you left the hospital for a hour or two you’d meet someone.”

“Hey!” she hears herself call before she really even knows what she’s doing. “You suck!”

The man turns around quickly, his confused expression evaporating quickly when he sees his aggressor is a small woman in scrubs. 

“Go Terps,” Scully finishes lamely, waving an imaginary pennant. 

The man smiles and walks toward her, extending a hand. He’s wearing a very expensive silver watch. “Go Terps indeed. Class of ‘89.”

“‘86 and ‘90,” she returns. His handshake is nice. His hands are warm. She feels her face getting red. “I was a military brat, it was the longest I ever spent in one place.”

“So was I!” God, his smile is nice. “What branch?”

“Navy. You?”

“Oh, you’re lucky. All those beautiful coastal towns… Mom and Dad were both Air Force.”

She smiles, not really sure what to say next, but he seems to have that covered. “At Maryland, you were… Pre-med and Med?”

“Yeah, you?” At a school that size it’s unlikely they would have ever even seen each other, but she’s enjoying the conversation.

“Journalism.”

“No wonder you don’t look familiar.” 

“That’s so refreshing,” he says.

There’s a story in there but she’s due at her party before tip-off. “Well, my interns will kill me if the boss doesn’t bring the food,” she says, lifting the shopping basket. “But it was nice to meet you, um…”

“Tad,” he says, extending his hand again. “O’Malley.”

Suddenly she realizes where she knows him from. “Oh, you’re the guy--World News Network!”

“Yeah,” he says, looking at the ground. He seems humble about it, which she likes. “Well listen--” He pauses and it takes her a moment to realize that he’s waiting for her to tell him her name. 

“I’m… Dana.” She honestly can’t remember the last time she introduced herself to someone by her first name only. It’s like slipping into someone else’s skin. 

“Well it was very nice to meet you, Dana,” Tad says, smiling. She vaguely realizes that they’re still shaking hands. 

“Yeah,” she agrees. “This was nice.”

“Would you like to continue this niceness at a nice restaurant?” he asks. “This weekend sometime?”

“Oh, um…” She feels her face flushing again. “I’m working a double shift on Saturday.”

“Not a big deal,” Tad says with a shrug. He rattles off his phone number and says, “Just give me a call next week when you’re free.”

“Yeah,” she says, fumbling with her phone to record the number. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

“Take it easy, doc,” he says, turning away. “Oh, and--puke on Duke.”

“Puke on Duke!” she echoes. 

He turns the corner with a wave and she is left feeling very large and very small all at once. It’s been almost a year. Maybe it’s time to get back out there. 

She looks down at her phone, saves the number as Tad O’Malley. In the notes section, where she usually writes reminders of how she met or knows the person, she types only “hey you suck.”


End file.
